


Unstable Equilibrium

by anathomical



Category: Tantei Gakuen Q | Detective Academy Q
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-20
Updated: 2008-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 04:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1632395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anathomical/pseuds/anathomical
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryu wants to be free to live his own life, but he doesn't want his friends to pay the price when his destiny finally catches up to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unstable Equilibrium

**Author's Note:**

> This was an interesting piece to write. I'm not a big slash writer, so it was an interesting challenge for me to try to construct a piece that could be read that way. I like to think I succeeded.
> 
> I do think that the story suffers a bit from being too short, too compressed. But overall I'm rather pleased with how things turned out. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Written for Pareidolia

 

 

Ryu went from sound asleep to wide awake in an instant. He wasn't sure what woke him up, but for two entire seconds he found himself suffering from severe disorientation. Where was he?

He was on a bed. A relatively comfortable one. He twisted his head to look around.

It wasn't the hospital, which was a relief considering the visit he'd gotten last time he was there.

The fact that it took two seconds before he registered the odd, rhythmic noise was a sign of just how disoriented he was. The noise drew his eyes over and down to the floor next to the bed, and his lips twitched upward slightly. Kyuu lay on the floor, the sheets dragged off the bed into a tangled pile on top of him. He was snoring, of course.

Ryu nodded to himself as his mind flashed over the events that had led him here. The murder at the mansion, the knife stabbing stright at Kyuu, the desperate lunge, the flash of pain, ad then the hospital. All of that he could have dealt with. They were, after all, the calculated risks of his chosen profession. He had decided long ago that they were perfectly acceptable, and he would have simply gone back to his house, back to his lie of a life.

But that wasn't all. He'd had a visitor. Ryu had know precisely what the man with the black roses was as soon as he walked in. All of the more fanatical members of Pluto moved with that same recklessness, as if they didn't care what happened to themselves or those around them. Over the years Ryu had concluded that this was exactly the case.

Ryu had yelled, demanded that Pluto leave him alone to seek his own path, and speaking the words had made him realize something important: if he was to have any chance of escaping his fate it wouldn't be alone. He had made a snap decision-- the sort of thing he would expect of Kyuu rather than himself, really-- but upon reflection he was more and more sure it was the right one. He needed a fresh start, and he was sure he could count on Kyuu's help, even if the other boy didn't even realize he was helping.

Another glance at the figure on the floor revealed that Kyuu was grinning that dumb grin of his. The one that declared that he had not a care in the world, and as always it brought out a nearly imperceptible smile in return.

Pluto wouldn't leave him alone, Ryu knew that. But for the first time he could imagine a future in which he was something other than his grandfather's pawn and successor.

\----

That first week at Kyuu's were some of the best days of Ryu's life. Every so often he thought he detectd signs of the boy's almost naïve exuberance in himself. He sort of began to suspect he might enjoy it. In hindsight he knew he shouldn't have let himself relax so much, but he was just so tired of constant vigilance.

Any sense of relaxation me to an end the day he saw the red convertible drive by the house twice in the space of half an hour. It could have been anything, but Ryu knew how Pluto operated. When it drove by the third time he stopped trying to pretend it might be something else. When it drove by the fourth time the window rolled down and the drive flashed a chilling smile at him.

They were watching.

\----

Nearly a week went by with Pluto the man and his silver pocket watch keeping not-so-subtle watch. Ryu was used to it, and under other circumstances he would have ignored it, but now he was with Kyuu, and if Kyuu noticed them he would ask questions. This wouldn't have been a problem if Kyuu were as careless as he often appeared, but Ryu knew that the other boy had a sharp mind and quick eye. He was afraid that Kyuu might distance himself from Ryu. Not because of the danger to himself, Kyuu would laugh that off, but because of the danger to his mother.

After two days Ryu wasn't sure if Kyuu was really falling for the various distractions he was using in an attempt to keep him from noticing, or if Kyuu was just playing along because that's the sort of person he was.

Sometimes Ryu would lie in bed, unable to sleep, until well after the point that Kyuu tossed and turned himself out onto the floor. He wanted to explain things. Tell his friend everything, but that was precisely the problem. Kyuu was a friend, perhaps his first, and Ryu wasn't sure what he would be if the truth came out.

Ten days went by like that until the morning Kyuu walked into the room with a grin waving something. "Ryu! You got mail!" His grin widened. "And there's no return address. How mysterious!" Ryu knew his friend was teasing, so he was able to restrain himself from snatching the envelope from Kyuu's hand. He knew who it had to be from.

"What's it say? What's it say?" Kyuu bounced excitedly.

Ryu had to suppress an uncharacteristic urge to shove his friend away. He manged a severe look. "It might be private, you know."

Kyuu's face fell a bit. "Oh." Then he brightened. "Then I'm going to go see if there's anything to eat in the kitchen!"

As Kyuu tore out of the room, Ryu managed a small smile. Which fell away as he turned his attention back to the envelope. Inside there was a neatly-folded hand-written letter.

> Your friend's mother seems like a very nice lady. I've been thinking about introducing myself.
> 
> Come home soon, your majesty.

It was simply signed with the letter "C".

Ryu's legs dropped out from under him and he landed on the bed heavily. He couldn't bring Kyuu's mother into this. Not with all the dangers that would mean. Not with what it would do to Kyuu if she ended up one of Pluto's puppets.

He'd have to go back.

\----

It was difficult spending the entire day acting as if nothing were wrong, but Ryu thought he had Kyuu fooled. He knew he couldn't keep it up for long though. He had to leave.

That night he waited until Kyuu was asleep before quietly packing a small bag with his few possessions and heading quietly for the door. He took one last look down at his friend's sleeping form and couldn't suppress a sad smile. They'd still see each other, but things wouldn't be the same, they couldn't be.

Taking a deep breath to steel himself, Ryu reached for the doorknob. As he pulled the door open it took him a second to realize that the snoring, which had somehow gone from amusing to oddly comforting without his noticing, had stopped. He looked back to see Kyuu rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Where are you going, Ryu?" he asked with a yawn.

Ryu opened his mouth, but couldn't find a lie he was willing to tell Kyuu. And with the other boy blinking with a sort of sleepy innocence Ryu felt his throat closing up. He decided to tell Kyuu the truth. To explain things to him.

It was going to be so much harder than leaving.

Later, after a long explanation which Kyuu didn't interrupt with questions even once, Kyuu had just nodded thoughtfully. Then he smiled softly. Not his usual unrestrained smile, but a more subdued and complex smile. A smile of acceptance, of forgiveness, of friendship.. "I was wondering when you would tell me."

 


End file.
